• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Verizon Rezound Window and Dash Vehicle Mount

Hi Harry. Ok i'll definitely root the hardware again and will try to provide some voltage/current numbers soon. (I returned a few chargers already but that's ok - the store for that 1A charger is nearby.) This may take a day or two while i figure the appropriate/safe test points :) Bye.
Phil
 
So, is the "best" mod a combination of bridging the pins AND the Griffin PowerJolt?
Is this the Grigffin model to get? (Since it supports the iPad with 2A, it sounds right)
http://amzn.com/B004VFG87O
Alternate link: http://www.amazon.com/Powerjolt-for-Ipad-iphone-ipod/dp/B004VFG87O/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Automatic car dock behavior is non-negotiable, so no thanks on the alternate/universal cradles. And I think the alternate one posted here looks ugly. That is only my opinion, but it is the only one that affects what I will use in MY car.

Could the original poster and mod creator get together and update the first post to indicate the final fix, or perhaps get a stickie version of this put together?
 
Hey there Thumbmonkey. I have more pictures/data later tonight! :) The best/final one with the combined mods works super!! I got it working yesterday night.

The Griffin model that you showed is approximately correct. The one I bought is without that extra cable but just the USB power adapter only (found mine in Wal-Mart in the TV/games/accessories section). I think just about any 2.1A adapter will work with the latest combined modifications. A high-grade 1A should work too but if we're buying something today then just go for the 2.1A type.

However i must say i do not have the voltage data that I promised Harry earlier. I couldn't solder the long wires to the board to tap the voltage/current (the solder points are too tiny for the long wire).... so i have ordered an extension cable and it should arrive in a few days. This extension cable (with the special female type micro B connector; just for test purpose) is difficult to find locally. I'll splice this extension cable to get the voltage/current reading whenever it arrives (i have the test fixture ready... just waiting for the cable). So... some voltage data in a few days but the modification/percentage/time data will be later tonight. (i'll have to run home now... i'm still at work:))
Bye.
 
Hey guys, here's the latest mod and hopefully this is the last mod :) This is with the DC2 pins 2 & 3 jump, diode D1 jump/bypass (use the R4 and R5 at the bottom side) and removing R2 for safety. I left the D1 diode in there (we don't have to remove this D1 diode/component). The blue LED of course doesn't work after we remove resistor R2 but we already have an amber LED on the phone itself (at the "top-right" of the phone next to the Verizon logo) to see that it's nicely charging.

Here's a picture of the combined modifications:
attachment.php


Here's some data/info:
attachment.php


Yes i am loving it and it's working great!!
Thanks. Bye.
 

Attachments

  • D1-R2-R4-R5-Bottom-sm.JPG
    D1-R2-R4-R5-Bottom-sm.JPG
    117.5 KB · Views: 574
  • USB-Chargers-Comparison-3mods-sm.JPG
    USB-Chargers-Comparison-3mods-sm.JPG
    166.9 KB · Views: 558
Amazing work, andr01d! Thank you for posting! I'm pretty good with working on small parts, mechanical watches and stuff, but I've never done any soldering before. Got any tips on what to get at Radio Shack for this mod?
 
This info is printed on the packaging/box or on the adapter itself. If it's not on the adapter or on the box itself, then it's most likely the standard 500mA (0.5A) type. They just have to print 1A or 2.1A on the box/adapter because it costs a little more than the 0.5A type, and they want us to know it has a higher output. Sometimes they may also print "fast charger" on the box along with a 2.1A or 1A info. bye.
 
andr01d said:
This will be very helpful because the pins/pads on the board are tiny (they just look big in the pictures). However I should mention the degree of difficulty is also high because it's in the SMT (surface mount) territory, but it's not as difficult as the ultrafine-pitched SMT/BGA stuff where we literally have to be a robot to do it. [...]
So if you don't mind I think it may be faster and safer if you can ask a nearby friend or an electronics repair shop, show them the picture, and ask if they can do it.
.
Click to expand...
I hate to ask, but is there any chance you could give me an actual dimension of the pins and spacing? I have a couple of friends who have lots of soldering experience and tools. But, I want to avoid taking the cradle apart, drive over, and then have them shake their head. Of course, one of them is more experienced, but the younger one owes me a favor...;)
I googled and found this page Surface mount part types & jargon that refers to typical pin spacing ranging from .5mm to 1.27 mm. Can you hazard a guess what the spacing is?
 
ha ha. umm... it's 1.3 mm pin-to-pin (micro-B format), and 1.5 mm from row-to-row. :) have fun...

edit: the two rectangular things next to the pins... from outside-to-outside it is 8 mm or 0.315 inch wide, and top-to-bottom is 5 mm or 0.2 inch.
 
As already mentioned, "weak" 1A charger under full load and the diode in the dock will reduce the voltage that reachs the phone.
As I know, standard USB voltage has to be 4.75V to 5.25V
So one might not get proper charging for the phone in the dock, dispite the bridged data pins.

But still not mentioned so far (as I remember ;) ) are "weak" USB cable.

So I measured my orignal HTC 1.2m USB cable on the HTC wall charger.
A 5 ohms resistor simulated the phone on the cable's microUSB and pulled about 1 ampere from the charger.
Voltage measured direct on the charger: 5.1V
Voltage measured direct on the resistor: 4.65V (this voltage would get the phone).

So the HTC cable reduced 0.45V of this 5.1V

So I had a look at the HTC cable's wire gauge. I think there are 28AWG for the data wires and 26AWG for the power wires.
Better than most microUSB cables with 28AWG both for data and power.
eBay's might been thinner :D

Searching for better microUSB cables I found a few high quality cables with 28AWG/24AWG for data/power.

http://telecom-pacific.com/usb.html

You might have a look at your cables. High quality cables show their AWG on their insulation :)

Harry
 
That dock looks like something MAcGyver would find in the warehouse to strap a bomb up on the ceiling for no reason.

Kane5581 said:
The answer is its a piece of crap. You shouldn't have to buy a seperate special charger just to make it work properly. Her is the dock I am getting, specifically made for the rezound, looks better, wont put phone in dock mode, and will charge. There is a video at the bottom that demonstrates it. I will review it when I get it, and have used it a day or two. should be coming today.

HTC Rezound Car Dock (swivel style) - CraigsDocks
Click to expand...
 
Yes it works great and i'm thrilled!!

(edit: if we do not want the car dock mode to activate/work, maybe remove resistor R1 and it becomes a plain dock)
 
hey guys... further below is more data... Do not worry - there are no new circuit changes (the current set of mods is already working great). This is just to collect some additional voltage/current or time data.

First is to re-try the Belkin 1A charger. Previously I thought this was weak, but this was without the complete set of mods. This has been re-tested with the complete set of mods (#2) and it actually turns out just fine too!

attachment.php


The USB extension cable that I ordered arrived recently and I patched it into the Test Fixture to collect some voltage/current info/data. Here is the test fixture and the parts to make it work...

attachment.php

It's pretty straight forward... the USB charger goes to the dock. The dock goes to the test fixture and then to the phone. I used two meters to read the voltage and current, also toggled the SW1 switch to get a more accurate reading.

Here's the test fixture wiring in case you guys are trying to figure out what's happening behind that plate...

attachment.php


Here's some info/data recorded...

attachment.php

^I also tried a Duracell 1A charger since I came across it at the store - it's fine too.

Looks like the phone will suck in about 0.87A max. The more we do with the phone (navi, etc) the less it will re-charge at the same time... but it sure will recharge it after the mods. The less we do (like put the phone into standby) naturally the faster this phone will re-charge its battery.

It's all working great!! Thanks. Bye.


edit:
Note: During the tests and voltage/current measurements, the LCD/screen was set to medium brightness using the HTC widget.
 

Attachments

  • test-fixture-parts-sm.JPG
    test-fixture-parts-sm.JPG
    136.9 KB · Views: 512
  • USB-Chargers-Power.JPG
    USB-Chargers-Power.JPG
    191.1 KB · Views: 513
  • USB-Chargers-Comparison-3mods.JPG
    USB-Chargers-Comparison-3mods.JPG
    178.2 KB · Views: 508
  • HTC-Rezound-Car-Dock-Test-Fixture-Wiring.JPG
    HTC-Rezound-Car-Dock-Test-Fixture-Wiring.JPG
    81.7 KB · Views: 475
Some speculating ;)

Maybe the charging current might get a little rised when the phone would get more voltage, say 0.2V more (e.g. 4.8V instead of 4.6V).

That voltage difference (about 0.6V) on the phone between no-load and full-load is caused from the voltage dropping of the charger under full-load and the voltage dropping on USB cable's resistance.

My HTC 1.2m microUSB cable has 0.5V voltage dropping.

I think with a better cable (28/24AWG instead of 28/26AWG) my phone might get this 0.2V more voltage.

I'll try to order such a cable :)

EDIT: With my 12cm microUSB cable I get 0.4V more voltage (means 5V with 930mA on the phone), but this cable is to short for using in the car :D

Harry
 
Hi Harry, thank you for your help and info too. Hey you got me thinking of another test with a very short cable. Hopefully i can have some test data soon :) bye
-p
 
Thanks for the mod instructions! I have just performed it and it appears successful. Man those little pins are tricky, and I consider myself experienced!


With GPS/Navi running stock and a 2.1A car charger from best buy, the phone would still LOSE charge. I'm hoping next week I'll see a difference.
 
I got this car dock for christmas from VZW, and i was wondering why my ph was dying driving around..but my question/problem is i need to have this mod to fix the charging issue for sure and is it possible to add a small switch somewhere on the dock to turn the dock mode off and on? (r1), I want to be able to use the factory dock mode when driving around for GPS etc but be able to flip the switch and have it where i can use the Disk Drive mode for my car radio to read and play music off my phones sdcard since my phone is plugged into my radios usb port to charge it.. Is this possible? or Needed and is there someone i can paypal a few bucks to have it done for me since i don't think i can do all this my self!
 
hi Ocyberbum, if i understand correctly you would like to connect from the USB port on the car stereo/headunit to the dock, and the phone into the dock. Also like to add a switch to toggle fast-charging and data/music. I think it cannot work because the PCB inside the dock does not pass-thru the data (D+ and D-) signals. To access the phone as a disk/drive, we'll have to plug the phone straight into the headunit via a USB cable. Have fun. bye.

(oops.. i still owe Harry some data:))
 
andr01d said:
hi Ocyberbum, if i understand correctly you would like to connect from the USB port on the car stereo/headunit to the dock, and the phone into the dock. Also like to add a switch to toggle fast-charging and data/music. I think it cannot work because the PCB inside the dock does not pass-thru the data (D+ and D-) signals. To access the phone as a disk/drive, we'll have to plug the phone straight into the headunit via a USB cable. Have fun. bye.

(oops.. i still owe Harry some data:))
Click to expand...
That's to bad, a lot of car radios have usb inputs and being able to put your ph into the dock and have it charge correctly plus allow the data would be a cool feature and a clean setup .. i contacted VZW and they said no one has complained about in there forums so they suggest i swap it out as defective
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom